5 parties pass election threshold in Russian parliamentary polls

Five political parties have cleared the 5% threshold needed to make it into the Russian parliament’s lower chamber, the State Duma, according to preliminary results Sunday.

President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party along with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), the A Just Russia - For Truth party and the New People’s Party passed the threshold, Russia’s TASS news agency reported, citing the Central Election Commission.

The commission has so far processed 15.01% of the results received from polling stations, it said.

“The turnout stood at 45.15% by 18:00 Moscow time, online votes not included. The turnout appears to be similar to the 2016 elections, when the final figure was 47.88%,” it added.

In the country, where there are 110 million voters, including those living abroad, elections for the State Duma, the parliaments of 39 regions and municipal and local elections in some regions were held between Sept. 17-19.

Polls closed on Sunday after Russians voted in the three-day parliamentary election.

The voting, which was expanded to three days as part of coronavirus measures, ended as of 8.00 p.m. local time (1700 GMT).

With 14 parties competing for 450 seats in the State Duma, only lawmakers that pass the 5% threshold will win a seat.